October 2009

When buyers are looking at a Santa Cruz condo, they aren’t just looking at the place itself. Although how a home looks on the inside is important, many are also looking at the surrounding neighborhood. When you get ready to sell your home, start thinking about what other things you can sell. Here’s a short list of other benefits to promote:

• Condo Association – Every Santa Cruz condo has some sort of governing body like the Home Owner’s Association or Community Association. How good is yours? Does your condo association listen to the needs of the owners? Do they keep the building in good repair? If your association is one of the best, brag about it!

• Cost of utilities – How much do your utilities cost? This could be a strong selling point in your

Santa Cruz real estate is one of the biggest purchases anyone will make, whether male or female. And, while it’s been scientifically proven that men and women have different approaches to life, one would think that purchasing a home is pretty much the same across genders. We each have our own concerns and important issues, but they basically all add up to, “This is what I want in my home.”

Therefore, the results of a recent survey caused quite a bit of surprise. The survey pointed out places where inherent differences were clear, as well as places where there weren’t any differences at all. So, when it comes to a match in the Santa Cruz real estate boxing ring, who comes out on top?

There’s a group of individuals constantly overlooked when someone has a home for sale in Santa Cruz. It’s not just newlyweds, families and women looking for homes. Men are on the look out, too. So what are they looking for? Here are a few points on the list:

• Location, location, location – Most men want a place close to their job. No long commutes, no hours on the highway. In fact, it’s one of their biggest considerations when choosing a home.

• The Man Cave – Is your home for sale in Santa Cruz set up with a man cave? Many men dream of having an extra room that can be converted into a place for recreation and entertainment. If you already have a man cave, you’re ahead of the competition!

Everybody has a horror story of some kind, when talking about Santa Cruz real estate. There are just some things most people don't think about when searching for property to buy or sell, whether you’re the buyer, the seller or even, yes, the agent.

Exhibit A

Sheryl (name changed to protect the innocent) is exhibit A. Now, she thought she’d bought a nice house at a good price. Everything seemed to be perfect. The one place that Sheryl went wrong was forgetting to do a home inspection on that beautiful piece of Santa Cruz real estate.

After a pleasant day of moving in, she went to take a shower. Turning on the faucet, she noticed the water pressure wasn’t what it should be. Ignoring the indications of worse yet to come, she flipped from faucet to

Just because you’ve found some interesting Santa Cruz homes for sale doesn’t mean your house hunt is up. There’s much more to do before signing those closing papers, and one of the biggest is having the home inspected. In fact, getting a home inspection will probably be drilled into you by your real estate agent. Yes, it’s that important.

What can you find out from a home inspection report?

Although many people do get a home inspection, just as many have a difficult time deciphering the reports to find out what’s serious and what isn’t. To make it worse, inspections vary from state to state. Fortunately, the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, who has a list of inspectors all around the United States and Canada, has a specific set of

If you’re looking at Santa Cruz homes to rent but think you can’t afford them, you might want to take another look. This is especially true if you have a good credit history. When it comes to finding tenants, landlords have never been more willing to play “Let’s Make a Deal."

Sitting Pretty

Why would any landlord be willing to make a deal? The reason topping the list is, of course, the economy. With so many people having lost their jobs, finding tenants who can afford the rent on time isn’t easy. Second, many renters are trying to save money by having roommates. Thirdly, because of the marketing slump there are plenty of homeowners renting out their Santa Cruz homes rather than selling them. Lastly, because of the first-time buyer tax credit, many

Are you looking at homes for sale in Santa Cruz and feeling overwhelmed by the choices? Back in the Dark Ages before the Internet (1986 or so), if you wanted to look at a house, you had to call a real estate agent, find out the address and then physically drive to the house. Thanks to the Internet, however, you can start narrowing down your choices before you ever talk to your agent.

What do you need to know?

Looking online can give you the information you want to know about the homes for sale in Santa Cruz. However, if you just go surfing on the Web, that information can be as overwhelming as the number of choices. Before you start shopping online, make a list of the things that are important to you about the city or neighborhood in which you want to

Purchasing a Santa Cruz home for sale, especially as a first-time buyer, is incredibly exciting. However, just because your offer is accepted doesn’t mean the deal is done. Lots of things can still cause the deal to fall through. Here are just a few things that might slow or stop your purchase:

1. Termites – Most lenders will insist on having a pest inspection to make sure termites or carpenter ants haven’t seriously damaged the home. Even if your particular lender doesn’t require an inspection, it’s best that you get one done anyway. If the pest inspection shows there is a severe problem, you can either ask the seller to pay to have the problem fixed or walk away if your purchase agreement allows it. At less than $100, a pest inspection is definitely

If you have some Santa Cruz real estate to sell or you just want to raise the property value, keeping hip to the market trends is paramount. Kitchens are one of the biggest selling points of any residential property. Energy efficient and cost effective are the catchwords of the day, and recycled is the way to go. Here are a few of the newest eco-friendly kitchen products that can find you buyers and up your property value.

1. EverHot – Made by Water, Inc., the EverHot is an excellent addition to trendy kitchens. No more boiling water, which makes it energy efficient and timesaving, EverHot is an under counter instant hot water heater. It uses less electricity than a 40-watt bulb, but produces up to 60 cups of steaming water an hour.

Many putting up their home for sale on the Santa Cruz market don’t have a lot of available cash to spruce it up. While staging houses is a definite plus, it costs, as does many of the other suggested “to-dos."

Here are a few inexpensive, easy ways to make your home look more inviting to buyers:

1. Put up your personal stuff

Not every buyer looking at a home for sale in Santa Cruz appreciates the fact that someone still lives there. Putting away the following things can help the buyers’ see themselves in the home: